That One Year with the Centaur and the Dress
by javamoose
Summary: We all the know about that one bead Annabeth has with the centaur wearing a dress, but what's the story behind it?


**"****Bet! Bet! Bet! Bet!" The entire camp chants in unison, the Hermes kids are the loudest of them all. Everyone stomps as one, causing the ground to tremble. The flame from the campfire reaches record heights and glows a bright orange.**

"I am _not _about to wager in such a-"

"If you're so sure we can't accomplish it, then bet on it! Nothing to fear then!" Luke challenges Chiron.

Dionysus sips his Diet Coke in the distance, a smile cracking at the situation Chiron has gotten himself into.

"It's not because of that-"

The chant starts again, even little Annabeth Chase, the most obedient of all, shouts along with them.

"Fine! _Fine._" Chiron shouts in exasperation at last.

Uproarious cheers ensues.

"But what are we going to make him do when we win?" Clarisse la Rue shouts so she can be heard.

A million ideas are produced within the millisecond Clarisse finishes her question. But all fall silent when Dionysus politely rises his hand.

"May I suggest an idea?" He asks innocently.

Chiron looks at the god of wine fearfully.

"Okay..." Luke crosses his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at him.

"I've always wanted to see my dear comrade wearing an elegant gown and it-"

Dionysus doesn't even get to finish. The whole camp shouts their approval of the idea. Chiron shakes his head, "I will not-"

"Come on, Chiron. It's not like these imbeciles can pull off harvesting this entire valley in a matter of days." Dionysus sips on his Diet Coke, but makes no attempt in hiding his ever expanding mischievous smile.

Chiron pinches the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed.

"Well?" Shout the some kids from the Ares cabin.

With the most exasperated expression he can possibly muster, Chiron nearly growls, "Okay. But when _I _win this, I want every single one of you to-"

Everybody disperses into the strawberry fields before he can even finish.

"It is dark out there you can't-"

"Oh, let the kids have some fun, Chiron." Dionysus snickers, much to the annoyance of the centaur.

Chiron gives Dionysus a final glare before heading back into the Big House.

"Oh, this will be _fun_." Dionysus says. Without even moving from his seat, he snaps his fingers, causing an entire acre's worth of strawberries to magically transport themselves into hundreds of weaved baskets.

* * *

"We will _not _do all the work!" Katie nearly screams at Travis, fists at her sides and a defiant foot planted firmly on the ground.

"You guys are Demeter kids, it shouldn't be that-"

A vine wraps around Travis's ankle, it pulls him off his feet and he's sprawled on the dirt. Katie stomps toward him and says with ferocity, "Our cabin isn't going to do all the work!"

"But-"

Katie has another vine grab Connor; he joins his brother on the ground.

"Do you _understand?_"

They mumble in agreement. They all begin working at it again.

* * *

"Holy Zeus! Look at all the strawberries we've already got! And we _still _have five days to finish! We can do this guys!" Selena jumps in place, clapping her hands.

"You haven't even done any of the work." Beckendorf mumbles, not loud enough for her to hear.

* * *

Annabeth wipes the sweat off her forehead.

She looks suspiciously at the baskets full of strawberries at the far end of the valley. She's not the best at math, but there's no possible way they could've gathered all of those already, even with Demeter's kids help.

No one points it out though, so neither does she.

* * *

"Guys, _guys. _We have three more days. We've nearly cleared out the entire place. We might actually finish _ahead_ of time. Maybe we can make Chiron wear some makeup too!"

* * *

Chiron looks dreadfully at the thousands of baskets at the end of the valley.

Twenty truckloads of strawberries have already been picked up. He knows that there's not much left to harvest.

He glowers at Dionysus across their game of Pinochle.

The god offers a sheepish smile and sips his Diet Coke.

* * *

All the campers do their last scoutings. Getting anything that might've remained. Tomorrow's the last day.

* * *

As the Hermes Cabin had coordinated, everyone gathers in front of the Big House by six in the morning. No one complains about being up at this ungodly hour on a Saturday. Everyone is giddy and excited about what this means.

Annabeth Chase grins widely in the middle of the crowd, jumping in place with anticipation. Even the ever anxious Grover manages to join into the festive mood.

Luke takes his place at the porch for everyone to see him. He begins the silent countdown, starting at ten.

Just as the pinky of his left hand goes down, an explosive "CHIRON" booms throughout Long Island.

A couple of minutes pass before they hear his trotting. An exhausted looking Chiron appears through the doorway, with a face filled with such disdain, that the camp erupts in laughter.

Luke calms everybody down, and speaks for everyone.

"So, we've collected every single strawberry in this valley-with a couple hours to spare. I think you know what this means."

Chiron grimaces at all their smug faces.

"Yes." He mutters, dejectedly.

Annabeth covers her mouth so her grin doesn't show. She almost feels guilty.

"Good," Chris Rodriguez takes a place next to Luke. "So, we'll be designing your gown, putting it together, and then you'll be modeling it for us."

"We'll be letting you know as soon as we're finished," pipes Travis.

The centaur makes a distasteful expression before disappearing back into the Big House.

"To work!" Shouted the Aphrodite kids, who are the one's responsible for the design.

* * *

Everyone fights for front row seats at the campfire tonight.

"Chi-ron! Chi-ron!" The campers cheer, fists pumping and feet stomping.

For once, Dionysus doesn't sit at the shadows, rather he joins the campers. He sits in a throne of vines he'd grown out of the dirt.

And then he appears.

A hushed silences settles into the crowd. He sports a glorious blue silk dress that's large enough to cover his entire body. The silent reverie breaks when he trips over the gown.

"Perfectly lovely," Dionysus says, clapping his hands together gently.

Chiron sets his jaw as the camp bursts into the inevitable laughter. He tries to maintain his stern composure, but he can't. In the end even he breaks into a smile.


End file.
